The bodies of five Israelis killed in the Bulgaria bombing will be flown to Israel tonight just weeks after Israel’s omission from the Global Terrorism Forum. US Senators Joseph Lieberman and Mark Kirk petitioned Clinton last month over Israel’s “wrongful omission,” saying, “There are few countries in the world that have suffered more from terrorism than Israel, and few governments that have more experience combatting this threat.”
The Global Counterterrorism Forum, a 29-state group formed last year by the United States “to develop a more robust yet representative counterterrorism capacity-building platform,” does not include Israel. The State Department’s undersecretary for civilian security, democracy, and human rights also neglected to mention Israel in a speech before the forum entitled “Victims of Terrorism” on Monday. It is thought that Turkey has protested Israel’s participation in this US-led effort.
